Goward House

About the Artist : Edibe Çelik (pronounced Edeebeh Chelik) – 1920-2001

Edibe Çelik grew up in Istanbul in the modern Republic of Türkiye. Her interest in drawing pictures of film actors from the 1930s and ‘40s came from her love of films, and later TV. She had a card collection of black-and-white photos of many actors of the time. She made pencil and charcoal drawings by copying the images from these cards. She was only 18 years old when she made the drawings on display here at Goward House.

Edibe had no formal training in fine arts. However, she loved music, literature, arts and culture throughout her life. Her favourite TV show was Le monde est à vous on the French channel TV5 (1987-97). Her favourite film actors were Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart. Her favourite singer was Yves Montand. She enjoyed drawing, reading, knitting and crocheting, and cooking for family and friends. Her philosophy of life was “always have hope.”

Educational background: Notre Dame de Lourdes, Istanbul, a French private elementary school for girls (5 years); Lycée Notre Dame de Sion, Istanbul (founded in 1856), a French private middle and high school for girls (7 years). Her favourite sport in school was volleyball.

Languages: Turkish, French, English (she also studied Latin in school)

Family: Her father was Chief of Police in the District of Beyoglu in Istanbul. It was very important for him that his children got a good education. Her mother was devoted to her family, raising two children. She later had five grandchildren. She was a self-taught lute player and also loved to do needlework. Edibe’s brother became Professor of International Law and taught in Istanbul, Lausanne and Paris, as well as having a private practice in international maritime law.

Married life: A couple of years after high school, Edibe married a medical doctor and they raised three children together. Later, they had three grandchildren. Her husband practiced in several Turkish cities. In 1956, he spent six months training in the US. For most of his career, he taught at a leading medical academy and hospital in Ankara. He was Chief Medical Consultant to one of Türkiye’s presidents. He had a state funeral when he passed away in 1983.

The exhibit: The six vintage drawings in this exhibit date from 1938. The exhibit has been lovingly prepared by Edibe’s daughter, her biggest fan, who lives in Victoria and by Goward House: Special thanks to Tara Jackson. All six frames are black wood, 11.25″ x 14.5″. The glass in all frames is non-reflective. The back is brown-paper-lined and each has a solid wire for hanging on the wall. They were professionally framed in the 2000s. The proceeds from this exhibit will go to Edibe’s two great granddaughters.